A coalition of ten international and national NGOs today addressed French Prime Minister François Fillon in a public letter calling for Alkarama’s executive director Dr Mourad Dhina not be extradited to Algeria, where he risks torture. The Prime Minister is responsible for signing off on extradition requests.

ACAT-France, Alkarama, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Centre Libanais pour les Droits de l’Homme, EUROMED, FIDH, Frontline, the International Commission of Jurists, the French Ligue des droits de l’Homme and the World Organisation Against Torture expressed their concern that the extradition of Dr Dhina to Algeria would be contrary to France’s human rights obligations, and that his arrest might have been requested by the Algerian authorities with a view to muzzle him because of his activities as a human rights defender with Alkarama and his political activities with Rachad, a peaceful political association, legally registered in France, that is seeking democratic change in Algeria.